Fanta Band

Fanta released their "Fanta Band" advertising campaign back in March, but I don't drink Fanta and I ignored it until just recently. Finally wanting to have an orange soda, and wanting to figure out what the point of the artwork was, I got a can. Interestingly, I couldn't find a URL anywhere on the package. Fortunately, the Fanta site is easy to track down.



This was a "real" band, bringing together 4 actual musicians, plus the sumo wrestler Akebono on drums (in one ad he's also credited as a bodyguard). The cast was chosen because their initials spell out "FANTA". We have Marty Friedman (former guitarist from Megadeth, and fluent speaker of Japanese), Ayanocozey (AKA:DJ Ozma), Nana (vocalist Nana Tanimura), Takamiy (Toshihiko Takamizawa, leader of THE ALFEE), and Akebono.

Since Akebono's not much of a drummer, his part is played for laughs. The website is fairly elaborate, and the TV ads are watchable even if you don't understand them.

And yes, I have had the Fun Mix soda (orange and cola) and no, I'll never drink it again.